Learn how to present your offerings and avoid getting lost to the sea of sameness

Discover how Rob teaches entrepreneurs to think differently towards their business and why establishing an empathetic connection is one of his most effective strategies

Resources/Links:

Sign-up for Rob’s Webinar:How thinking like Apple can get you remarkable results – with less effort bit.ly/addwater-why

Summary

Rob Gemmell is the Creative Director at Apple, award-winning industrial designer, entrepreneur, and consultant to over 100 businesses into a hands-on consulting and coaching practice. Rob’s common objective across all clients: Attracting and keeping high-profit customers and clients. And doing so with less effort and uncertainty.

In this episode, Rob Gemmell talks about how he helps entrepreneurs who provide professional services to think differently and radically transform their business. He shares the importance of training your mind the way Apple does by internalizing the three core principles. He also shares how Apple’s marketing philosophy endures all challenges.

Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland: Hello, have you want to very well. Welcome to another edition of marketing’s the invisible. My name is Tom Poland has always been me out to you from on the sand. A little Castaways beach in Queensland. Australia joined today by Rob Gimmel. Rob, good day and welcome and where you’re hanging out.

Rob Gemmell: It’s a pleasure to be here Tom. Thank you. And I’m joining you from Napa, California.

Tom Poland: Napa, California the land of wine and honey.

Rob Gemmell: Absolutely correct.

Tom Poland: So facts Rob. He’s an award-winning industrial designer, so that tells you that he has the ability to think big picture as well as a detail orientated, which is quite rare. One of the very interesting is about Rob folks is that he’s not only an industrial designer, but he’s also a creative director formerly with apple. So he knows how Apple thinks, develops products and services and markets them. He worked directly with Steve Jobs for a number of years and so, therefore, I had the privilege of learning directly from the feet of one of the greatest product designer and marketers on the planet. And in fact, in history over the last 25 years, he’s built on this thinking and these practices in his own business and working with over 200 clients. So Rob, pretty impressive background. Love your work. I’ve been through the three pillars. I’m enrolled in your course. Thank you. It’s transformational thinking level. So let’s see if we can impart some of the wisdom and knowledge in just seven minutes. A title is how to think differently and radically transform your business in just seven minutes and our time starts now. Rob, question number one is who’s your ideal client?

Rob Gemmell: You know, my ideal client is a provider of professional services or knowledge or experiences because that’s a new thing all its own. They are typically professionally competent people who are either current or former executives and an awful lot of them are, although that’s not a requirement, but in whatever they’ve done, their subject matter experts. So they do command some authority. And also many of them are marketing people supporting somebody or an organization that focuses on any of those services.

Tom Poland: Interesting. So, so they’re obviously very competent people. Question number two, six minutes, 10 seconds left. So what’s the problem you solve for them?

Rob Gemmell: Well, I helped them solve one of their biggest problems is they’re typically trying to offer too much. They’re trying to appeal to too many different types of customers or clients and they get too distracted by trying to satisfy the 80% that they should probably be ignoring so they can focus on doing an excellent job on the 20% right.

Tom Poland: So why do you think question two, I, by the way, I’ve just snuck this in there, five and a half minutes left

Rob Gemmell: For so many of them because they’re overachievers. What goes with that often is self-doubt and so they question their value even though they’ve got all this history of success and so they don’t give themselves enough credit and they say yes to too many opportunities instead of a thing. Much more selective and I help train them to think differently about how to address that.

Tom Poland: Question number three, what are the typical symptoms your ideal clients are experiencing who have that problem before they meet you?

Rob Gemmell: The most common is that they’re competing on price versus proficiency. So they’re presenting their offerings, whatever it might be, as if it were a commodity and they’re getting lost in this sea of sameness with all the other alternatives, pitching themselves the same way.

Tom Poland: Quickly, question number four, someone becomes aware of a prospective ideal client of yours becomes aware. They have the problem that they’ve been pitching on price, that they’re commoditized, they’re going to try some stuff, probably that before they get to you and it’s not going to work so well. So question number four is what are some of the mistakes that your ideal clients make before they find you?

Rob Gemmell: The most common one that’s everywhere. It is what I call cookie cutter marketing says. So many of them have gone to template-based websites, emails, social media, marketing postings, et cetera, et cetera. And they use too many stock photos, graphics, that type of thing. They have too much tax that’s intellectual and abstract and their copywriting. And the result is they end up with what I call fake marketing. It looks and sounds professional, but it’s not authentic. And it masks what’s different, unique and special about them.

Tom Poland: Folks, you’re listening to the voice of experience here. Question number five, three and a quarter minutes left. What’s one valuable free action that an audience member could take that’s going to help them take a step closer to solving this problem?

Rob Gemmell: Here’s my favorite way to start with new clients and sometimes I do this in the first phone calling do with them is I help them change the description of their business. Basically, the script that they have them in their head, that they recite to people at various events or when they’re on the phone or they’re lighting and email. And I coached them to start with empathy and then lead that into what’s unique about the way they deliver their services or the knowledge that they bring to it. Here’s an example. What if you start your next conversation on this with, you know how most people’s marketing sounds a lot like everybody else’s. Well, add water, trains, business people to think differently about their business, their audience, and their marketing. So that’s, that’s how mine works.

Tom Poland: Yeah. So you’re starting with the second sentence. This is what we do. This is how you work. You’re starting with were not what. Nice, right?

Rob Gemmell: Establishing an empathetic connection.

Tom Poland: Okay. Just under two minutes left and two questions left. Question number six is what one valuable free resource that you can direct people to that’s going to help them a little even more.

Rob Gemmell: So I’ve put together a one hour webinar on the topic of it is white thinking, different always wins and then I go through how it’s work so well and successfully for apple but also how I’ve applied it and other people have applied it to their other businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Tom Poland: That landing page folks go to bit.ly so you will know that as bit.ly/addwater-why the link will be below the video but if you’re listening on iTunes or Stitcher and other podcasts, bit.ly bit.ly/addwater-why. Question number seven, Robin, thank you for that. Uh, I’ve been in there and it is a very valuable resource and it’s also can put you. Just under a minute left. Question number seven, what’s the one question I should have asked you but failed to do so/
other podcasts

Rob Gemmell: I guess I would say it’s why more people aren’t doing marketing like the Apple, and I can tell you that it’s not the easiest way to do marketing for your business, but once you’ve trained your mind to think the way Apple does, you discovered that you can actually do it more effectively and simply with less effort than whatever you were doing previously because it’s based on three core principles that once you’ve internalized them, make it so much easier to execute again.

Tom Poland: Different way of thinking and an effective way of thinking, Perhaps not the easiest but certainly highly effective. Rob Gimmel. Thanks so much for your time.

Tom Poland: Glen Campbell. Thank you so much Thanks for checking out our marketing the invisible podcast if you like what we’re doing here. Please head over to my tunes to subscribe to write to us and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.

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MEET YOUR HOST

Tom Poland is the creator of The Five Hour Lead Generation Challenge found at www.FiveHourChallenge.com and the proprietary Leadsology® Model.

He works with professionals to embed lead generation systems into their businesses so they enjoy a weekly flow of new client inquiries.

Tom started his first advisory business at age 24 and has gone on to start and sell four others, taking two of them international. In that time, he’s managed teams of over 100 people and annual revenue of more than $20 million.

He is a multiple best-selling author and also shared international speaking platforms with the likes of Michael Gerber of E-Myth fame, Richard Koch from The 80–20 Principle, Marshall Goldsmith and many others.

Tom is voluntarily married and lives on the sand at Castaways Beach on the fabulous Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia.